Indie Game Development Cost, Scope & Timeline Calculator
QUBU Production Planner turns a game idea into a production model instead of pretending there is one universal price tag. It estimates person-months, calendar time, budget range and delivery risk from platform, visual scope, multiplayer model, selected systems, content volume, team size and target release quality.
This is not a quote or financial advice. The useful question is not only “how much does a game cost?” but “what has to be built, tested and operated for this exact scope to ship?” Every result exposes the assumptions that increase workload and highlights scope cuts that can materially reduce schedule or release risk.
Can you actually ship this game?
Model systems, content load and team capacity together. The result is not one fake price: it is person-months, calendar time, budget, delivery risk and scope-cut options.
Project foundation
A genre label is not scope. Define platform, visual production and networking together.
Team and cost assumptions
The default cost is not a benchmark. Replace it with your real fully-loaded person-month cost.
System scope
Core carries the player promise. Stretch is scope you can cut when the schedule tightens.
Content volume
Code may be implemented once; content production and regression load grow with every additional unit.
Production report
Read the loads and scope decisions behind the estimate instead of trusting one number.
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Scenario comparison
| Scenario | Person-months | Calendar | Budget |
|---|
Discipline load
Critical risks
Scope-cut opportunities
Next production actions
How is this estimate calculated?
The model combines a project foundation load, discipline-specific system loads, content production and quality/release multipliers. Calendar time divides person-month load by effective throughput after team size, usable capacity and coordination loss. Risk combines networking, high-risk systems, platform count, content volume and deadline pressure.
This result is not a quote, accounting calculation or guarantee. Its strongest use is comparing the same project under different scope assumptions.
Project inputs are not sent to the server. Draft state stays in your browser; share links use the URL hash.
Why game development cost is not one number
Two games in the same genre can carry completely different production loads. A seemingly small inventory feature adds data rules, interface states, input behavior, persistence edge cases and QA. Online multiplayer adds much more than networking code: authority, reconnection, matchmaking, version compatibility, failure recovery, telemetry and operations. QUBU therefore models cost from cross-discipline production load, not from a generic feature count.
What the calculator estimates
- Person-months: combined capacity across engineering, design, UI, content, QA and operations.
- Calendar time: an estimated delivery window based on team size, usable production capacity and coordination overhead.
- Budget range: workload multiplied by your own fully-loaded monthly cost assumption, plus optional external spend.
- Production risk: a transparent score driven by networking, platforms, high-risk systems, content volume and schedule pressure.
- Scope-cut opportunities: the stretch features that consume the most capacity or introduce the most delivery risk.
How to use the estimate
Do not treat the first output as “the correct budget.” Run the model three times. First model the game you actually want to make. Then remove stretch systems and inspect the controlled scope. Finally replace the target months and cost-per-person-month with your real constraints. The comparison tells you more than a single price: which decisions dominate the project, where the MVP boundary sits, and which assumptions could break the release plan.
Continue the production model
Read the full indie game development cost and scope guide for the reasoning behind person-months, team scaling, multiplayer load, QA and contingency. Turn the resulting scope into a working design brief with the QUBU GDD Builder, then test commercial scenarios with the Steam Revenue Calculator.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to make an indie game?
Calendar time is not determined by headcount alone. Total workload, discipline mix, team availability, integration overhead, content volume and release quality all matter. That is why this planner separates person-months from calendar months.
Can a solo developer use this calculator?
Yes. Set team size to one. The same system and content load will translate into a longer calendar schedule, making non-code work such as content production, QA and platform preparation visible instead of treating it as free capacity.
Is the result a real development quote?
No. Compensation, outsourcing, licenses, marketing, tax, hardware and contracts vary widely. Use the result for planning, trade-offs and scenario comparison, then replace assumptions with your own real costs.